TRAIN OPERATORS ‘TALKING RUBBISH’ ON RAIL ASSAULTS

RMT has told the Association of Train Operating Companies to confront the problem of assaults rather than claim that rising assault statistics were the result of changes in the way offences were recorded. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was no surprise to hear train- operating companies say that the figures are up because more are being reported. “They’ve been saying that every year for a long time, but RMT members up and down the country are telling us that the assaults and abuse are getting worse, and the statistics tell the same disturbing story of a year-on-year rise. “Our members are the ones who know, because they are the ones who have to get out there every day and night and face it – unlike the executives who are trying to kid us that it’s just down to a change in the way things are reported,” he said. Staff are often left in fear of reporting incidents because of the worry that if they report too many they will be regarded as somehow unsuitable for their job, a source of trouble or even somehow responsible for the attacks upon them. The vast majority of guards and station staff on Northern Trains last year signed a petition calling for specific measures against violence, and for the company to enforce the railway bylaws fully. RMT members on Southeastern and at ‘one’ are fighting to stop the companies de- staffing ticket offices, only a year after earlier attempts to close ticket offices were beaten back by passenger protests and strike threats. The Railway Safety and Standards Board has consistently turned down RMT’s requests for an operator-by-operator breakdown of assaults. MORE STAFF, NOT LESS Bob said that pressure to maximise profits meant constant attacks on staffing levels, but rail workers and passengers alike want to see more trained, uniformed staff on all stations every moment they are open, and a guard on every train. “Rather than attempts to turn the truth on its head we need zero tolerance of violence, proper enforcement of the railway bylaws and an adequately funded transport police force. “The private operators say they encourage reporting, but our members tell us that they often make life difficult for those who report assaults,” he said. The union argues that bringing train operations back into public ownership as franchises expire would release cash currently removed from the industry as profits to help fund more staff. “It is breathtaking to hear Tories bleating about railway violence, because it was they who handed the railways to the privateers who have been reducing station staff numbers ever since,” Bob Crow said. www.rmt.org.uk :: march 2007 :: RMTnews 5 Private train operators maintain violent crime on the railways has fallen despite rising assault statistics TRAIN OPERATORS ‘TALKING RUBBISH’ ON RAIL ASSAULTS